Dim
by Aybones
Summary: Jaune and Pyrrha are separated; a locker having something to do with it. In the cataclysmic conclusion to the Vytal Festival, Jaune is too far to save his partner, his friend: the girl he loves. His only hope is to call his friends for help, and play the waiting game. This is an account of Jaune's perspective in the End of the Beginning.


_Hello again! So, this time I decided to write a not so little something to follow up the season finale of a show dear to my heart, RWBY, that completely slaughtered my soul! This particular piece follows the perspective of my second favorite character in the show during the last episode and after. I wanted to explore what may have been his thoughts and emotions when we didn't get to see them. Anyway, I will definitely be returning with more Inuyasha drabbles (most likely more one-shots) but for now, let's just huddle together and wallow in our tears as we bid one of the best characters to exist farewell. Please, as usual, enjoy and let me know what you think!_

 ** _Disclaimer:_** _I do not, have not, and will not own the rights to RWBY. All rights go to RoosterTeeth and the late genius who created it, Monty Oum (rest in peace)._

* * *

 **Dim**

His head was pounding; it felt like he'd been hit by a train. Jaune stayed crumpled on the ground and through the stinging tears, he looked up at the tower, waiting for any indication that she was alright. Nothing. Though, it was far too tall for him to see anything, even if there was something up there. He gripped his side as pain shot through it when he attempted to stand. Jaune slammed a clenched fist into the rubble. The throbbing in his side was relentless and he couldn't even recall ever injuring it. He assumed it must have happened when the locker he was trapped in crash landed in the alleyway he now sat in, slumped over. Here in this part of the city, Jaune was powerless. He didn't have the strength to get up let alone scale the tower on his own to reach her. And he didn't have the time.

Jaune glanced over at his Scroll, the smashed technology's pieces staring back at him. Oh God he hoped that Weiss and Ruby were up there with her. He hoped they'd for once stopped asking questions and just _ran_. He knew Weiss would get them close; if anyone could, it was her. And Ruby was fast, he assured himself, she would make it. She _had to_.

Feeling the anger from his own hopelessness building up inside him, Jaune attempted to gather himself to his feet once more. He ignored the stabbing of his side and rushed — scrambled more like — for his sword and shield. For the first time, when he gripped the hilt and linked the shield on his forearm, Jaune Arc didn't have a plan. He stared up at the top of the tower and his mind went blank. He couldn't come up with anything that he could do that would help her. Frustration crashed over him and he let out a raspy wail.

 _How could I be so stupid?_ he threw the sword to the ground. _I should have stopped her. How could I let her go?_

Jaune was no stranger to helplessness. He was a phony; a fake. He couldn't fight the way she could and he didn't have a Semblance yet. He didn't even unlock his Aura — something he knew nothing about anyway — on his own. She did that for him! From the very beginning, _she_ was there for him. She believed in him from the moment they met and she did everything she could to be a good friend, teammate, and eventual partner to him. But Jaune, stupid Jaune, was oblivious; so self-involved he couldn't see it. He was _so_ focused on being "cool" and "liked" by his peers, specifically Weiss Schnee, that he couldn't see the girl standing right in front of him. The girl who looked at him and saw… the world.

She genuinely thought so much of him and he blew her off. So many times. It wasn't until the ball that he finally realized how alone she felt. All the time. The great, powerful, and beautiful Pyrrha Nikos was isolated. She felt so… small. He kicked himself every day for weeks after Pyrrha told him that she hadn't been asked to the ball. When he saw her walking across the dance floor, no date at her side, it finally hit him how… stunning she was. She was beautiful. This beautiful warrior was at a ball all alone. He wanted to punch himself: and would have had he not thought he should talk to her first. Even though Jaune did stick to his word — he threw on that far too tight dress and stepped out in front of the entire school to dance with her — he knew no matter how ridiculous he made himself look or how many times he apologized, it would never be enough to heal the pain she felt. At the time, though, he was still oblivious to what it meant. Those words she spoke on the rooftop before he was sporting glitter and tulle: _You're the kind of guy I wish I was here with. Someone who just saw me for me,_ he remembered. If only he had understood, if only he hadn't been so… stupid! She cared _so_ much for him, and she said it so plainly, yet he paid no mind.

He knew later, though. The day Pyrrha changed. The day her optimistic personality faded, he knew how much he needed her. Their partnership had grown so much since the ball and during the Vytal Festival, he was so proud of their teamwork. He was so proud and felt so fortunate — and undeserving — of her alliance to him. She was his best friend. But, that day her light seemed to dim. Something was wrong, he could feel it. Whatever she had done to him back in the forest that first day to unlock his Aura… it seemed to bind them. He felt her with him all the time. He chalked it up to gas in the beginning, but realized over time that when she wasn't near her presence was attached to him, blanketing him in warmth. When Pyrrha changed, he only felt cold. Jaune went to her when she was alone, and seeing her sitting there on the concrete of the school grounds by herself with that solemn expression on her beautiful face… he felt the courage inside him he had always longed to possess. He finally did what she had consistently done for him and seeing the smile return to her face as she rest her head on his shoulder ignited the fire he felt when she was near once more. Despite her panicking and throwing him into the wall, nearly cracking his shoulder blades, he tried to reach for her anyway. He didn't care that she just attacked him. She could do whatever she wanted to him. He would stand beside her, he would hold her hand, he would pick her up, and he would be her shoulder to lean on right to the bitter end. She ran and he felt a strong tug, almost like a string attached to his heart was being pulled taught in an attempt to yank the organ from his chest. To follow her.

 _That_ was when he knew. He may need her, but she needed _him_ more. And that connection to her that he felt? They were tethered to each other… permanently.

Unsure of what to do, he watched her battle against Penny in agony. He wished her could pull her out of the arena and hug her tight. His mind was pulled from the fantasy when he noticed something in Pyrrha's fighting; she was shaky. Pyrrha Nikos always fought cool and calm; collected together like it was what she was bred for. When he watched her face on the giant screens above the crowd, he sensed something was wrong. He saw her step back from Penny in a panic and he knew it was about to all go south. Before he could react, she'd launched Penny's sword back at her and…

He felt the tears burning again. He couldn't stop thinking about her. So much was going on with her. So much that he didn't know about and it killed him not to know. Whatever happened with Ozpin and that mystery girl in the pod, really messed with her mind. She was frightened. Pyrrha Nikos was never frightened. But of this, of whatever it was, she was petrified. And what it was, he wasn't sure he knew. Until that damn woman appeared. Then he knew. Then it all started to come together.

Just as Jaune started to reach for his sword, a tingling sensation shot through his body. It snaked around his veins and he stumbled back, starring at his body as he watched red lines begin to grow along his skin. _What…_ he thought. A force he'd never felt before knocked him against the wall of the building behind him and he looked outward to find what looked like large chunks of the tower crashing down, shaking the ground beneath his feet. It felt like Nora had beat the crap out of him with her hammer. He coughed and tried to steady himself through to soreness as he watched the glowing red lines disappear almost as quickly as they appeared. Confusion washed over him. What the hell was that? He'd never seen those before. Or felt them.

But in the next moment, when he moved from the wall and craned his neck to find the tower shorter than it was before, he felt it: the connection to her that meant so much to him. Jaune felt an overwhelming need to move forward but he just couldn't move. Then he could see faint glowing circles scaling the side of the tower and he almost sighed in relief. Weiss. There was no doubt in his mind that, seconds later, the faint figure that was launching up the wall was Ruby. _Please,_ he thought, not realizing he'd whispered it aloud. _Save her._

His chest suddenly exploded in a pain that lasted a fraction of a second, but was enough to knock the wind out of him. His hand flew to his chest-plate. Struggling for breath for a moment, he watched in confusion as a piercing white light exploded from the plateau of the tower. It shot out, enveloping the entirety of the building, and then rushed around him as it spread through the city; like a strong gust of wind, it threw him back. He couldn't see anything; not the tower, not the Grimm dragon that was terrorizing whoever was up there… everything was white. The purest form of light.

—

Jaune's eyes slowly opened and the world around him was blurry. He was on concrete, that much he knew for certain. When he tried to roll over to get up, his whole body shook with a lulled pain; he was so sore. Jaune coughed as he forced himself to his knees. His side still felt like someone stabbed him, but slowly his body went numb. He looked up, holding his injury carefully, and his breath caught in his throat when he saw the dragon. It was… frozen. It just looked attached to the top of the tower. It wasn't as terrifying anymore. Everything around him seemed to be quiet. And Jaune felt… cold.

The tower.

 _Pyrrha._

He scrambled, tripping over his own feet, for his sword and shield. He took off running through the maze of the city, toward the tower. _Pyrrha, please be okay!_ he pleaded. When he finally reached the base of the tower, he noticed all the Grimm. They were all frozen, just like the dragon was. He didn't stop to get a closer look but he did notice something They looked like… stone. It didn't matter, whether the Grimm were alive or stone. All that mattered was getting to Pyrrha. Ignoring everything, he ran inside the tower only to find the elevators were destroyed. Collapsed in on themselves it looked like. He exited the building and looked up, frantic to find any way up there.

"Did you see that?" a familiar voice coughed behind him.

He turned to find Weiss picking herself off the ground. He must have run right by her.

"What was that light?" she asked, coughing again.

"Weiss! Can you get me to the top?" He shouted.

She was looking at him now with a puzzled expression.

"Please! Weiss! She needs me!" He begged.

Weiss said nothing. She just held her sword at the tower and waved two fingers; those same glyphs shot up the wall. She nodded at him and Jaune took off. He leapt at the wall, not even concerning himself with whether he _could_ do this. He just did it. Landing on the first glyph kept him level with the wall and held his shoes bolted into the concrete. He pushed off and ran as fast and as hard as he could. No stopping for breath. No taking a break for water. Nothing. He had one goal only: _find Pyrrha._

Jaune leapt over the ledge once he reached the top. His landing was less than graceful: he rolled across the floor and almost poked himself with the sword. Feeling the return of the pain in his side, he groaned as he stood. He sucked in a breath and looked up, but what he saw was his worst fear.

Ruby was on the ground, flat on her back. That woman was gone. Only Qrow and another figure he couldn't quite name were approaching Ruby. She was unconscious, and he heard Qrow speaking to her as he lifted her up into his arms. Jaune was frozen himself. He couldn't move his body. His eyes frantically searched for her. For any sign of her. It wasn't until Glynda appeared and knelt in front of something gold - his sword and shield slipping from his grip and clattering against the concrete - that he realized what he was seeing. It was only then that he was able to choke out sounds that formed words.

"No," he breathed.

Glynda's head snapped toward him, her eyes wide. She yelled something to Qrow, maybe about getting Ruby to the ships. She began to move toward Jaune but he was already running. He was out of breath and out of stamina but he didn't care; he ignored it and ran anway, despite his legs screaming at him to stop. When he reached the golden object, his heart sank.

 _Pyrrha._

"NO," Jaune screamed.

Her gold circlet lay among the rubble of what was left of the top of this tower. It was alone. Nothing else was here. _She_ wasn't here. His eyes were burning and the cold he had been feeling sent shivers up his spine. He screamed to the sky, falling to his knees with tears bursting from his eyes. When he finally looked back down he just kept repeating "no" reaching for the headpiece with his fingertips.

"I-it can't…" he choked. "No, no no. Please. Pyrrha. Please."

He held it delicately in his fingers, watching the gold glisten in what little light they had. His heart broke. It burst into irreparable pieces. And he would have sworn that he _felt_ it break; the feeling almost emitting a sound he could only describe as glass shattering. The pain he felt in his chest surpassed whatever minute soreness he still felt in his side. Jaune couldn't stop the tears, nor did he want to. Or attempt to. He couldn't pull his eyes away from her headpiece either. Jaune just stared through salty tears at the gold, holding onto what was left of his friend.

"Jaune?" he heard Nora behind him.

He just shook his head and pulled the circlet tight to his chest. His teammates; maybe they felt the same thing. How they knew where she was, he didn't know. But he was grateful that they came for her too. They were all just too late.

"Oh, no. Pyrrha…" Nora whispered, her voice catching.

Jaune heard shuffling and he assumed she was leaning into Ren. He pictured Ren holding Nora close while she cried. Jaune couldn't hold Pyrrha. He couldn't touch her. He couldn't tell her everything was going to be okay. He couldn't be next to her. He couldn't return the kiss she'd taken from him just outside the tower. He wanted to give it back; he wanted to give it back so he could turn around and give her a proper first kiss. One that wasn't in the frantic moments of their city — their home — being destroyed around them. The first kiss she deserved.

Not the last she'd ever have.

Pyrrha; stupid, beautiful, Pyrrha shoved him into that locker and went after that woman by herself. Jaune knew she didn't stand a chance, not with the power the witch had stolen. And he let her go. He didn't try to fight back. Guilt overtook him and as he gripped the headpiece, the metal digging into his skin, and he continued to cry. He couldn't stop seeing her face. The way she smiled at him when they were together, the way she put her hand on his shoulder when he needed encouragement… the way she leaned into him when she needed him most in the courtyard. Even now he only wanted her beside him, so he could fit her body next to his the way she did that day — on the same side that throbbed in pain — and he could wrap his arms around her; her warmth a comfortable and familiar feeling. An injury he still hadn't examined. Jaune wouldn't think about that now. He only thought of Pyrrha.

Picturing her on the night of the ball, in that stunning red dress… her laugh at the sight of him in his own pearly white monstrosity of a gown, he remembered how truly bright she was. She lit up all of Beacon.

"Come back," he croaked as he leaned forward. "Please, Pyrrha, come back."

Jaune Arc folded into himself and desperately searched for that connection he felt to her.

But it was gone. Or at least, it wasn't the same as before.

Now, all he felt was cold.

—

At some point, and Jaune couldn't tell when, Nora and Ren had collapsed on either side of him. Nora reached her arms around Jaune's shoulders and pulled him against her chest. She rested her forehead against his temple and he could faintly feel the wetness from her eyes. Ren, a more hesitant man to show any affection or emotion, put his on arm around them both and leaned into his friend. Jaune didn't look at either of them. He couldn't. Not only had he let Pyrrha down but he'd let his teammates down as well. They depended on him to be Pyrrha's partner. To always stand by her; to protect her. And he failed.

But his friends never said a word about it. They only held onto him.

They were comforting _him._

"I— I'm so sorry," he murmured.

His voice was ragged from his crying; his throat was torn raw.

"It's not your fault," Nora shook her head.

"You couldn't have done anything more." Ren added.

"I could… I _should_ have stopped her." Jaune reasoned. "I should have gone after her."

Nora snorted, "You? Stop Pyrrha? No way."

"It's true," Ren said, "Pyrrha was an unstoppable force."

"That woman was just… immovable." Jaune croaked as new tears formed.

Jaune had never cried like this. Having seven sisters, he knew he was a more emotional man than others he'd met — and he was no stranger to tearing up — but he'd never cried _this_ much. It occurred to him how often he'd envied Ren for being so stoic. His calm, guarded, demeanor was something Jaune for a long time wished he had. But in this moment, with both Ren and Nora draped over him, he realized how wrong he'd been. There was only one person to lead their team and Pyrrha didn't wish him to be different. She liked him, and respected him, for who he was; a great big, vulnerable, idiot. She saw strength in him that he hadn't seen or believed he had.

And his team?

They trusted him with everything they had.

"She just can't be gone," Jaune murmured.

"I know," Ren's voice hitched in his throat.

When Jaune snuck a glance, he noticed a soft glint against his cheek.

So… Ren had been crying too.

Nora cleared her throat, adjusted her arms so she could reach out and grip Ren's hand in hers. She kept her temple pressed against Jaune's and his teammates huddled closer. Jaune returned her gesture, tangling their hair. Jaune sucked in a deep, labored, breath while he thumbed the gold metal of Pyrrha's headpiece. After a moment, Ren touched it lightly. Jaune watched his friend's hand as it followed the curves of the metal, stopping to gently hold one of the emerald gems that dangled on the side.

"No matter what, Jaune," Nora said, "we stick together. We are always here for you."

"Yes," Ren nodded.

When he pulled away, Jaune closed his eyes, seeing their team. JNPR. A team he was proud to be part of; a team he never imagined he'd ever get the chance to be a member of, let alone its leader. And he led them, continuously surprised by his talents. All because of Pyrrha.

This was what she did.

Pyrrha Nikos did more than just believe in Jaune and show him that he was capable of all the things he dreamed of. Pyrrha united them. Pyrrha was the glue that held them together. Pyrrha was the best of all of them; the best of everyone at Beacon. And she was more than just a warrior, she was… everything.

Jaune loved her. He didn't deserve her, but he loved her with every fiber of his being.

He'd just wished he'd told her.

As Jaune and his friends sat together in silence, Jaune suddenly felt something. A soft tug at his chest. He looked down at the headpiece, knowing he was going to keep it for the rest of his life. He slowly brought it up and, closing his eyes, he gently kissed it. Something lit inside him, growing from his core.

Jaune pulled it away as he felt his friends watching him. The last wave of tears slid down his cheeks and, even though he'd wouldn't tell his teammates of what happened next, the unmistakable feeling of a hand resting on his shoulder. It didn't take more than a moment to know the familiar pressure and warmth. It shocked him at the same time as relieved him.

Pyrrha, the light of Beacon, was here.

She was with her team in heart and spirit.

Her light on their world was dim, but it was there. And it was inside Jaune, burning calmly as if before a storm.

Jaune knew Pyrrha's light would shine again.

He would make sure of it.

* * *

 _Fin! Well, that was a monster to write. I had been wanting to write something Arkos related for a long time and figured this would be a great one to start with. Anyway, if you made it to the end, thank you so much! I really hope you enjoyed it! And if you have never watched RWBY, please go do so. It is a fantastic show and, of course you can join the rest of us in heartbreak! Haha Alright, before I get more emotional, thank you again and please, if you can, let me know what you thought! Your thoughts are greatly appreciated! xx Ali_


End file.
